a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of producing an assembly of reams of paper sheets for point of distribution display of the reams, and to such an assembly.
b) Description of Prior Art
Paper sheets for use in typing, photocopy, telefacsimile and the like are typically packed in reams in a paper wrapping in which each ream contains 50 sheets in a stack. The packaged reams are typically packed in cardboard cartons or boxes which hold 10 reams; typically each carton contains two adjacent piles of packaged reams, each pile being formed of 5 packaged reams.
The cartons are closed and sealed and stacked on a pallet to form five layers of cartons, each layer having nine cartons in a compact side-by-side relationship of 3 by 3 cartons; typically adjacent layers of cartons are displaced laterally by 90.degree. relative to the cartons of an adjacent layer. The assembly of boxes is wrapped with stretch film wrapping. The cartons within such a wrapped unit are adhered together.
These wrapped units are suitable for users of large amounts of paper sheets, however, unwrapping at the site of distribution is inconvenient and requires a person of good strength to remove individual cartons, each containing 10 reams from the unit. The sealed carton must then be opened to obtain a single packaged ream.
Access to individual packaged reams in the wrapped unit is thus limited and extensive disassembly of the wrapped unit and unpacking of cartons is required to make the individual packaged reams readily accessible. The wrapped units also require heavy packaging in the form of the cartons, which results in a bulky waste packaging.
These wrapped units are inappropriate for display and distribution of individual packaged reams such as might be purchased by small offices or for the home.